TOPEKA ? Democrat Chad Taylor will remain on the Nov. 4 ballot as a candidate for U.S. Senate, according to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Taylor, however, said he plans to challenge Kobach’s decision.

Those were among the twists in what had already become a tumultuous, and surprisingly close, four-way race between Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, Taylor, independent candidate Greg Orman, and Libertarian Randall Batson.

Kobach said Thursday that Taylor, who won the Democratic nomination in the Aug. 5 primary and abruptly pulled out of the race Wednesday, failed to meet the requirements of a 1997 statute that says he must formally declare that, if elected, he would be unable to fulfill the duties of the office.

“We have received no declaration from Mr. Taylor that he is incapable of serving,” Kobach said. “The law is very clear on this point. We now have no choice but to keep his name on the ballot.”

According to the 1997 law, people nominated for an office may only be taken off the ballot if they die or “are incapable of fulfilling the duties of office if elected.” And those who withdraw for incapacity must declare that in writing to the Secretary of State.

Taylor filed a notice with Kobach’s office Wednesday afternoon, less than an hour before the deadline for filing a withdrawal notice. But his request gave no reason for his withdrawal.

Kobach said the request doesn’t have to provide details about the nature of the incapacity, but it does need to contain that declaration.

“I am planning to challenge the ruling of the Kansas Secretary of State, who serves on Pat Roberts’ Honorary Committee,” Taylor said after Kobach’s announcement. “(Wednesday) afternoon, I contacted Brad Bryant, Director of Elections and Legislative Matters for the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office, to inquire about the requisite steps needed to terminate my candidacy for United State Senate and to withdraw my name from the ballot. Mr. Bryant provided explicit instructions as to the information required in the letter to remove my name.”

Kobach, however, denied that Bryant had given Taylor any assurance that the document he filed would be sufficient.

Pressure to pull out

Taylor reportedly had come under pressure from Democrats and others to bow out of the race under the assumption Orman, who had raised more money than Taylor, stood a better chance of unseating Roberts, a powerful three-term incumbent.

Since the primary, polls have consistently shown Roberts getting less than 40 percent of the vote, while Taylor and Orman together were splitting about 50 percent. Libertarian candidate Randall Batson had been polling in the single digits, but still strong enough to be a potential spoiler in an otherwise close race.

Those numbers encouraged Democrats, who haven’t won a U.S. Senate race in Kansas since 1932, but they also worried the national Republican Party, which hopes to recapture control of the Senate this year. Before those polls, few people had considered the possibility that Roberts could be vulnerable in the Republican-dominated state of Kansas.

Of the two leading challengers, Taylor had the most difficulty raising money. According to campaign finance reports, he had raised only about $114,000 just before the primary, compared to Roberts’ $3.2 million. Orman, the founder of a venture capital firm, had raised more than $671,000, including about $47,000 of his own money.

The pressure to withdraw reportedly had come from national Democratic leaders, including Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who spoke with Taylor shortly before his decision. That conversation was confirmed by an aide in her office who would not discuss details of the conversation but said McCaskill thinks highly of Taylor and believes he has a bright political future.

But Kansas Democratic Party leaders said they were caught by surprise.

State party chairwoman Joan Wagnon said that as recently as Monday, during a Labor Day event, she gave assurances to a Taylor supporter that the party stood behind its nominee.

“This caught everybody by surprise,” Wagnon said. “Everybody knew how much money he’d raised and hadn’t raised, and how much money had been raised on the other side.”

Republican reaction

The prospect of Taylor dropping out, and possibly sending his support to Orman, also worried Kansas Republicans who immediately questioned the legality of Taylor’s withdrawal.

Kansas GOP chairman Kelly Arnold issued a statement Thursday morning calling Taylor’s withdrawal, “an attempt by Liberal Washington Democrats to disenfranchise Kansas Democrats and invalidate their primary election.”

“You cannot throw an election in the garbage because some people find the results inconvenient,” Arnold said.

Kobach said he did not consult with the state party, or anyone from the Roberts campaign, before launching a review of Taylor’s withdrawal. Although he is an honorary member of Roberts’ campaign leadership team, Kobach said he began the review almost immediately after Taylor submitted it.

The turmoil over Taylor’s candidacy came just days before Saturday’s Kansas State Fair debates in Hutchinson, an event that traditionally marks the kicking off point of the general election campaign. Until this week, organizers had prepared to have three candidates in the Senate debate: Roberts; Taylor and Orman.

There was no immediate word from debate organizers about how many will now take part in the debate Saturday.